Abstract: The idea of "smart cities" was very popular in the beginning. This paper presents an in-depth exploration of an Arduino-based Internet of Things (IoT) Smart Parking System designed to address the growing challenges of urban parking management. Leveraging the capabilities of Arduino microcontrollers and IoT technology, the proposed system offers an intelligent and efficient solution for optimizing parking space utilization. The key components of the system consist of sensor nodes that are positioned thoughtfully in parking spots and send occupancy data in real time to a centralized Arduino microcontroller. After processing this data, the microcontroller sends status updates to a cloud-based platform via wireless communication protocols. The cloud platform is interfaced with an intuitive mobile application that gives drivers instant access to information about parking availability and promotes a smooth parking experience.